RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPAYED/neuteredrabbits living indoors, as members of a human family, have been little studied. We have a
unique opportunity to observe and ponder these fascinating interactions,
cruelty-free experiments in social
structure and group behavior.

In the past six months the rabbit population
at our house has reconfigured twice.
I have watched the changes with much interest
and some puzzlement. One thing
was obvious: like humans, rabbit behavior
is dramatically affected by the company
they keep.

The changes began when we were
asked to adopt Gus and Harvey, a pair of 5-
year-old neutered males. Snowie, Chloe,
and Joey had come to us as a bonded trio.
When Snowie died, Joey and Chloe, age 6,
became inseparable. Gus and Harvey, who
had spent most of their lives in a shed,
looked like they needed liberating. Chloe
and Joey, bereaved over Snowie, looked
like they needed a diversion. We agreed to
take Harvey and Gus on a trial basis, our
first attempt at introducing rabbits.

We followed the recommended steps:
side-by-side but separated, then on to
neutral ground, and finally into the heavily
marked home base. Gus and Harvey's
initial space was a back-yard playhouse
surrounded by a fence. They could look
out at the garden and get familiar with our
rabbits, cat, and guinea pigs who roam
there (under our watchful eyes, of course),
and Joey and Chloe could get used to
the newcomers.

Luckily, Harvey and Gus arrived in
July, which afforded lots of daylight
hours for getting everybody together
outdoors. This first stage went
smoothly, with all creatures meeting
and greeting at the playhouse fence.
Stage 2 began abruptly when Harvey
broke out of his guest quarters.

AN UNPLANNED ADVANCE
Joey approached Harvey, they
scrambled in circles, and the fur flew.
Harvey, the smaller of the two and a
newcomer, seemed to be the initiator,
although Joey may have made
some inflammatory remarks that we
humans missed. Harvey , with a flick
of the nose and "beat it" body language,
seemed to be trying to drive
Joey away from Chloe. When Joey,
usually timid and stand-offish, had
been pushed around enough on his
own turf, a fight with Harvey ensued.
When I wasn't in time to prevent things
from escalating to this point, I would break
up these skirmishes by spraying both
bunnies in the face with a little water from
a plant-sprayer and return the writhing
Harvey to his side of the playhouse fence.

Gus and Chloe remained relatively
passive throughout these first intense
weeks. Gus tried sporadically to put the
moves on chow-loving Chloe, who was
lured by the food bowls in Gus and
Harvey 's quarters. When she came calling
Gus tried to mount her. Chloe took it in
stride and never fought with him or Harvey.

Finally there was a truce between
Harvey and Joey. As so often happens
(and not just with bunnies), the little guy
was the boss. Chloe took little interest in
the boys' hierarchical goings-on. All four
began to graze together in the mornings
and spent afternoons napping in separate
corners of the garden. Harvey and
Joey took to napping together and even
grooming each other, with or without
Chloe present.

A FRAGILE PEACE
Harvey began breakfasting with Joey
and Chloe on our back deck. When Gus
appeared, Harvey would chase him off,
with Joey at his heels. For days Joey and
Harvey chased Gus from the deck just as
Harvey had pursued Joey. Gradually Joey
allowed Gus to spend more and more time
on the deck. They would graze side by side
until something (invisible to us) would
trigger Joey to chase Gus. Gus would go
nap in a hole he had made by the back
fence. Days later Joey took to napping in
this hole, while Gus snoozed under Joey's
favorite bush.

Gradually, Gus became part of the
group. He came up to breakfast with the
others, and Joey didn't drive him away.
Then one morning I heard the familiar
sound of scuffling on the deck. Harvey and
Gus were fighting. Joey joined the fray and
broke it up. He assumed the role of peacemaker
several more times before Harvey
and Gus finally buried the hatchet.

A GREAT LOSS
One obvious bone of contention had
been Chloe. This is our best guess as to the
cause of the fights between Harvey and
Gus. When she died suddenly (due to recurring
infection), the last remnants of the
pecking order disappeared. We put the
three boys in non-neutral territory. Joey's
bedroom is an atrium in the center of our
house, with dirt for digging, plants for
cover, concrete flooring, hay, boughs, and
a rabbit-made cave and tunnel. Joey accepted
his brethren into his domain
without a tussle.

Up to this point I had been an observer.
Now I was ready to bond with the new arrivals
myself. Harvey and Gus related to
me with great interest and affection. True
to house-rabbit form, the move indoors
changed them from flighty and cautious to
friendly and trusting. That gives me confidence to try matchmaking again.